Improved composition foe ink



gut-12h gtairs gamut @ffirr,

- J. AW or BRIDGE-PORT, CONNECTICUT.

Letters Patent No. 69,846, dated October 15, 1867.

IMPROVED courosrrtou ron INK.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY QONGERN:

Be it known that I, J. SIiAW, of Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield,and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and improved f IndelibleInky and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and

exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the artto fully understand and make use of the same.

the-paper written upon by it.

The ink embraced by this invention is composed of the ingredients mixedtogether in and about the proportions below stated, viz: Five (5)gallons soft water, one (1) pound extract of logwood; one. (1) ouncebl'carbonate of potash; one ounce bichromat'e of potash; forty (4;0)grains cyanide of potassium; eighty (SQ grains prussiate of potash. i

The water is first heated to the boiling point in an iron or othersuitable kettle or vessel, and the Iogwod (previously ground orpulverized) then added and the mixture stirred-until the logwood hasbecome fuliy dissolved. The bicarbonate of potassa, previously dissolvedin a gill of hot water, is then added to the above, and after beingstirred for half a 1ninute, more or less, the bichromate of potash,dissolved in a similar mannor to the bicarbonate of potash, is thenadded, together with the cyanide of potassium and the prussiate ofpotassa previously dissolvedtogether, iffso desired, in a gillofhotlwater. The several potassa havin'g thus been mixed with the wateraud logwood dissolved in it,-the whole mixture is then boiled for abouta minute, at the same time being stirred, when, having allowed-themixture to cool and settle, it is ready for being bottled and for use. iv

The ink produced as above is of a permanent blue-black color, andindestructible and imperishable, and

when used cannot be erased or removed byoxalic acid, chlorine, or anyother chemical agent without destroying If desired to reduce the ink.liquid'to a granulated form, pour itoii' from its sediment into an ironpan or kettle, and therein evaporate it to dryness over a slow heat,which, being nearly done, stir it to a powder and then dry it slowly, ordry. it in a cake form,pulverizing it afterward in a suitable mill. Itcan then be put up in paper or paper boxes, and when desired .to be usedonly requires to be dissolved in soft water, with three or four ouncesof the ink-powder to a gallon of the water. In the powdered orgrandlated form above stated, the ink can be kept or preserved for anylength of time without injury, even in cold weather by the frost, and insuch form it can be packed or stored in a much less space than in aliquid statean advantage in transportation by sea or land.

If the ink is to be used for copying purposes, it is best to mix with itfrom two (2) to four (4) ounces of brown sugar to a gallon of the ink,and if for marking cloth with a stencil-plate, a suilicie'nt smallquantity of gum-mucilage may be also added to prevent its spreading.When no sugar or gum is. used there is no tendency of the ink to mould,and even with either or both of them, it tends'but slightly to mould,which can be wholly overcome by the addition of 'a'fcw drops ofcreosote.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- An ink composedof the ingredientshereinabove named, and mixed together in the mannerand in or about th' r 1 1'0 ortionssubsta'ntiill as s ecified.

escve a p P y p J. SHAW.

Witnesses:

WM. F. MCNAMARA, ALEX. F. Ronnnrs.

